Well, that’s one way to start a game. The Ducks closed out the Presidents’ Trophy winning Sharks on Monday night, beating them 4-1 to take the series. The victory marked the fifth time since 1968 that the top regular season club in the NHL lost in the first round of the playoffs. Apparently seeking to spark some fire and emotion with his team, Joe Thornton decided to drop gloves early in the game. Ducks’ center Ryan Getzlaf obliged. On the opening draw! Check it out — I’ve never seen anything like it!

“Joe kind of came in and said, ‘Do you want to go tonight?”’ Getzlaf said. “I had every intention of asking him, so it was a situation that carried over from last game. We kind of knew what we were doing. … (In Game 5) I didn’t want give them any spark. Tonight, I felt, was the opportunity to redeem myself.”

I don’t know what the Sharks’ deal is considering how good they’ve been the past four seasons and how disappointing they’ve been in the playoffs. The only bright side is if you’re anti-Red Wings, the Ducks may just be hot enough and physical enough to knock them out. Otherwise Detroit’s going to the Cup, passing go, and collecting 200 octopuses.